Das Boot

As Lisa guessed in comments the other day, J.C.'s foot was, indeed, broken. The ER doctor missed the fracture. The podiatrist, though, indicated the ER doctor had the diagnosis at least half-right; J.C. both broke and sprained her foot. Hence the swelling, the bruising, the inability to put any pressure at all on it.

So, she has a boot now, which just this morning I dubbed Das Boot. It's easier for her to get around on her crutches, so the crutch rage has subsided a little, but it looks like I'm going to be her taxi for another two weeks minimum, which makes me think I'm not quite out of danger yet.

In other news, my first day jitters never really subsided, but I made it through Wednesday's classes. I was way more nervous than usual in Intro to Lit, and I think I know why: the classroom. There's new media equipment in the room--a wireless keyboard and an enormous flat-screen monitor--that takes up pretty much an entire corner. So, I was sitting next to a desk adjacent the media equipment, and the students were sitting in this arc that pretty much surrounded me. Plus, the room will only hold twenty-five students, and the class has twenty-four. During attendance, I felt a little like I was on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

I had never realized how much the shape and arrangement of a classroom could affect my brain. Maybe I've just gotten used to sitting around tables with groups of twelve or fourteen students. It's definitely going to require some adjustments. Or, you know, a new classroom. There just happens to be one available on the second floor, directly beneath my room. The tables, even, are arranged into a large square. I think I'm going to have to take it.